


Mirelurk Special

by Glowstickia



Series: Echoes of You [16]
Category: Fallout (Video Games), Fallout 4
Genre: Adopted Sibling Relationship, Diners, Food, Gen, Prompt Fic, Prompt Fill, Sibling Bonding, psyker
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-18
Updated: 2021-02-18
Packaged: 2021-03-14 05:16:04
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,928
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29537397
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Glowstickia/pseuds/Glowstickia
Summary: After a rough few days of Railroad work, Deacon decided it was high time to take Echo to his favorite diner in all the Commonwealth.
Relationships: Deacon (Fallout) & Original Female Character(s)
Series: Echoes of You [16]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1718185
Comments: 6
Kudos: 8





	Mirelurk Special

**Author's Note:**

> Written for my [Mystery Word](https://falloutglow.tumblr.com/post/637529275038416896/mystery-list) prompts!
> 
> Echo & Deacon friendship - B5 Charge
> 
> I had been sitting on this one for a long time. It was written back in December, but I couldn’t for the life of me get my butt in gear to type it 😂

The diner was quiet. Or, as quiet as the past would let her. Echo sat in the faded and cracked red booth as Deacon sat across from her. His hands were steepled while his elbows propped on the table. The “owner” of the diner hummed as she cooked some mirelurk special. Deacon swore by it.

Plates clinked and people two centuries dead, chattered over each other. She caught bits and words and if she truly wanted to focus, she could listen in on entire conversations. Instead, she let them have their privacy as she focused on Deacon.

It was like playing a staring contest where neither could see the other’s eyes, or know if the other was cheating. Course, it was more of a silent and waiting game if she had to be perfectly honest. Patience was something she was good at. She didn’t have much of a choice…

Deacon continued his silent judgement, perhaps grading her on how well she could handle being stared at. Echo watched him back, barely moving outside of her own quiet breaths. The cut on his arm was still healing, and could barely see it by now unless you knew where to look. It’d probably scar.

He shifted in his seat and leaned back. His hands were moved to his lap. She didn’t budge as her mind ran through some potential reasoning. He caught on that she was staring at his arm, which was _highly_ unlikely considering her eyes were _also_ shielded by sunglasses. Another possibility was he was matching her posture, mimicking her as a way to put her at ease. Deacon was good at that, being able to shift his movements to match those he was interacting with.

The third possibility was-.

Janet grinned at the duo as she placed their order of “mirelurk special” in front of them.

-their food was done.

“There ya go!~” she sang, “I’ll be right back with your drinks.”

Deacon smiled at her. “Thanks, Janet, looks superb as always.”

Echo nodded. “Yes, thank you for the nice hot meal.”

Janet laughed. “Of course. A friend of Johnny’s is always welcomed here. I’ll be right back.”

Echo raised a brow at Deacon as he started cutting into his mirelurk. The food...looked okay. She had mirelurk before, but the red sauce drizzled on top threw her off. She cut into it and hummed. There were dried veggies in the sauce...tatos, some sort of green pepper, wild onions... She took a bite and Deacon grinned at her.

“Mirelurk and salsa, Janet’s special. Only one who knows how to make it.”

Echo nodded as she swallowed. “Bit hot.”

Deacon snorted. “What? Can’t take the heat?”

She kicked him as she fanned her mouth. “Physical.”

Janet sat down two bottles. One beer and one Nuka Cola. “Here ya go, Hun.”

Echo nodded as she uncapped her cola and took a swig. She sighed in relief. Her mouth was no longer burning. “Thanks.”

Janet winked at her. “Course. Enjoy!” She walked away while Deacon took a swig of his beer.

Deacon chuckled. “Careful, it's hot.”

Echo rolled her eyes despite knowing he couldn’t see the gesture. “No duh,” she stuck out her tongue and rolled it at him.

He laughed. “Well, two can play at that game.” He leaned forward, stuck out his tongue and, to her amazement, rolled it as well.

“Aight,” she nodded, “Didn’t think you had it in you.” She shrugged her shoulders and went back to eating.

This was...nice.

Deacon’s serious, glowering attitude, melted away. Maybe he was just hungry, or tired of the silence.

“Surprised you’re drinking.” She said before having another biteful, still trying to decipher the other ingredients used. She tasted cilantro. Maybe garlic too.

Deacon raised a brow as he chewed his food. He swallowed. “Hey, one of us has to stay sober.” He grinned, “Figured you’d be the designated driver.”

She snorted. “You’ll let me drive your Corvega?” she joked, placing a hand on her cheek and faked a gasp. “Wow, I can’t believe it.”

Deacon laughed. “Don’t scratch it.” He added, wink implied.

Echo shook her head. “No promises.” The corner of her mouth twitched a grin as an old memory passed through. _Gliding down the chrome hallway in a golf cart missing its roof, her foot was pressed down on the gas. She laughed as her brother gripped tight to the seat screaming at her to slow down._ “But I’ll have you know I’m a decent driver.” She mopped up some remaining salsa with the last of her mirelurk, “Course, I _am_ a bit known for speeding.”

“Really now?” he took another swig, draining the rest of his beer, “Ya know, it takes a lot more than one bottle to get me tipsy.” he sat the bottle down and leaned back in his seat. “So, do you know why I brought you here?”

Echo shrugged as she washed the last of her meal with her cola. “I can guess, but you just told me about this wild diner you loved going to.” She placed her now empty bottle on the table and raised a brow. “Dessert an option?”

Deacon hummed and popped his lips. “Don’t know. We’re not exactly swimming in the caps, E. Janet makes some great mutfruit tarts, but still need to get some supplies… specifically after the fun game we played the other day.”

Janet smiled at them as she picked up their plates. “Did I hear talk of desserts?” She asked, her voice sweetening thick as she stacked the plates on top of each other. “Got Fancy Lads, mutfruit tarts drizzled with tarberry sauce, tarberry pie-” She fluttered her lashes at Deacon, “C’mon Johnny, I know you can’t resist a good ol’ pastry.”

Deacon shook his head. “Damn. Twisting my arm.” he said with a breathy laugh, “Alright Janet, we’ll split an order of your finest tarts.” He tapped his beer bottle, “And uh, some brahmin milk would be nice.”

Janet winked at Echo. “I’ll be right back Dears.”

As Janet sauntered away, Echo smirked at Deacon. “Still need supplies huh?”

He scoffed. “Psh, who could turn down a nice warm meal with a scrumdidlyumptious dessert.”

Echo shook her head. “I see you’re using gobblefunk again.”

Deacon beamed at her. “Ya know it sister.”

Janet came back over with a plate with four tarts with dark purple drizzle covering the pastries. “Here you two go!” She placed the plate down between them and put two forks in front of the duo along with a pair of smaller plates.

Deacon placed a hand on his chest. “Oh, Janet, you saint.”

She giggled and playfully smacked Deacon’s hand. “Oh hush. I have plenty of tarts. Don’t want them to go bad, ya know?”

She snapped her fingers. “You two will need some brahmin milk to go with it. Be back in a jiffy.~”

Echo watched her walk away with a bounce in her step. “Oh, I see,” Echo smirked at Deacon, “She’s _sweet_ on you.”

Deacon stopped himself from digging in. “What? Psh, nah, nah, these are called _tarts_.” He waved her off with his fork and shoveled a forkful of tart in his mouth. He let the food sit in his mouth, either savoring it or avoiding speaking any further with flimsy excuses.

Knowing Deacon, probably both.

Echo moved her share of tarts over to her plate and scooped as much tarberry drizzle her fork would allow onto the pastries before taking a bite. Her lips puckered at the sour punch of the drizzle while the mutfruit kicked it down a notch.

Janet returned with two glasses of cold brahmin milk and chuckled. “They don’t call it a _tart_ for nothin’.” She nodded at them, “You two enjoy!” She sang and went back to her counter.

Echo washed down her food with the milk as Deacon ate a few more bites. “Alright, I’ll bite. So, why _are_ we here?” She asked, taking another bite of her tart.

He snorted. “Figured we’d need a little celebration. Especially after what we've accomplished already in the past few days.”

Echo paused a moment before she remembered the courser and getting the chip ‘out’. She wrinkled her nose. “Gods, didya have to remind me of all that.” She stuck out her tongue a little and went back to her dessert. Thank gods the color was purple.

He smiled, showing far too many teeth. “Yep.” He popped one last bite of dessert in his mouth and drained the rest of his milk. “Ah, now if you’ll excuse me.” He wiped his mouth of the faint milk stache, scooted out of the booth, and stretched as he picked up his empty plates. “I’m gonna see what the damage is. Sit tight.” He finger gunned at her before carrying the plates over to Janet.

Echo huffed and took her time off her dessert. He’d probably flirt a little, using that _charisma_ of his to possibly lower the price. She _was_ going to pay attention, eavesdrop on their conversation, something Deacon would quiz her over… But...

When she looked back up, the diner looked _new._ The black and white checkered tiles didn’t have cracks nor looked sunbaked. The diner’s seats were a vibrant red. Despite the flaws, stuffing poking out of the upholstery, a stain from spilled coffee that wouldn’t go away no matter how hard the waitstaff scrubbed… it was as though she was sitting in the diner during its heyday. She swallowed her tart as her eyes noticed the couple sitting at the counter with their backs to her _._

_A man wearing a white, grease stained apron and a paper hat on his head mumbled to himself as he wiped down the counter. The couple laughed loudly at an inside joke Echo couldn’t hear. One with long, curly red hair smacked the one wearing a much cleaner than she’s used to, trench coat. “Stop it.” the woman laughed._

_Apron man took a deep breath and shook his head as he wiped the counter a little harder._

Echo tore her gaze away, briefly catching the trench coat guy’s face. Right. Not Nick. This was just a memory of those two having a good time, that’s all. She squeezed her eyes shut and took a deep breath.

When she opened her eyes, Deacon was staring at her with knitted brows. “You okay, Boss?” he asked, concern creeping into his voice.

Echo forced a smile as she raised her glass of brahmin milk. “Of course, just thinking some thoughts is all.” She knocked back the rest of her milk and began gathering her things.

“Alright,” Deacon said with a shrug and grabbed her empty dishes. “I’ll take care of these. Already got the bill covered. No charge to ya.”

She thinned her lips. “Oh, uh, okay. Thanks?”

He chuckled. “No worries. We’ll move out soon.”

“Sounds good, sounds good.” She watched him walk off, back to Janet. She pulled her bag to her lap and scooted out of the booth. With the bag on her back and one last sweeping look of the old diner, she saluted to Janet. “Thanks for everything!”

Janet smiled at her and waved. “Nice to meet you dear. Come back anytime.” She took the dishes back from Deacon. “And same to you, Johnny.”

He bowed to her and said a few words Echo didn’t care to hear before she was outside the door.

“So,” Echo said, adjusting her bag, “where to now?”

Deacon grinned at her. “Diamond City.” He elbowed her. “I’ll tell ya on the way.”


End file.
